The prize-winning novel “Frankenstein in Baghdad” by Iraqi novelist Ahmed Saadawi has finally been translated into English. His reworking of Mary Shelley’s iconic horror story is set in the Iraqi capital torn apart by sectarian violence.

Rajko Grlić’s latest film “The Constitution” is excellent, profound and moving. Set in a building where the political tensions of former Yugoslavia are played out with a mixture of hatred, good grace, solidarity and bigotry. An intelligent movie that must be seen.

A masterpiece of modern world literature has recently been published by New York Review of Books Classics. The tale of a renegade Brahmin whose dissolute life brings consternation and doubt to his community when he suddenly dies.

A review of Lewis Lapham’s collection of essays tracing the decline in American democracy since 1990 to the present day. It is a vital read from a great literary stylist, humanist and old-school scholar. There is wit, intelligence and a grasp of essentials on every page.

Fiston Mwanza Mujila’s debut novel, a critique of neocolonialism is taking Africa and the world by storm. His nightmarish jazzy vision is peopled with poets, whores, pimps and post-marxist capitalists.

A posthumously published book by the art historian Michael Jacobs on his long standing obsession, the Velazquez painting, “Las Meninas”, that hangs in the Prado – a painting that has perplexed art historians for two centuries.